Eras

The Americas to 1620Colonization and Settlement, 1585-1763American Revolution, 1763-1783The New Nation, 1783-1815National Expansion and Reform, 1815-1860Civil War and Reconstruction, 1861-1877Rise of Industrial America, 1877-1900Progressive Era to New Era, 1900-1929Great Depression and World War II, 1929-19451945 to the Present

Themes

African American HistoryAmerican Indian HistoryArt, Music and FilmEconomicsGlobal History and US Foreign PolicyGovernment and CivicsImmigration and MigrationLiterature and Language ArtsMilitary HistoryReform MovementsReligionWomen's History

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Searching the Gilder Lehrman Collection

Our search engine provides several ways to help you find the documents you want. You can begin your search using a traditional keyword search in the box at the top of the page. You may also choose to limit your search to specific fields.

All Fields - This is the default search option and will give you the greatest number of results. You may enter keywords, dates, and Collection numbers in this field.

Creator - includes authors and photographers. Remember to use last name, first name.

People - can include anyone mentioned or depicted in a document. Remember to use last name, first name.

Title - Particularly useful if you are searching for books and broadsides and already know the title of the work.

Subjects - Keywords

LOC Search Terms - Library of Congress subject headings

The Collection Search Page also contains several “Click & search” options to allow you to explore the Collection or to limit your search results. By selecting one of these options, your search will automatically filter for materials falling into those categories.

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Other useful tips

Reference Guides - if you are unsure where to begin or need help narrowing your search, please visit our Reference Guides page for more information on our holdings and pre-selected searches.

Results with images only - if you select this box, catalog records with no images will automatically be removed from your search results.

Wildcard searching - Use * to perform a wild card search. For example, “abolition*” will return results for both abolition and abolitionist. Searching “soldier*” will return results for soldier, soldiers, and soldiering.